Endless-cable railway



S.- M.' PETTENGILL.

Endless Cable Railways.

Nq.230,sos. Patented Aug. 3,1880.

www a ATTORNEYS.

N.FET&HS. PHOTO-LITHCGRAPHER. WASHINGTON. D. C.

UNITED STATES SAMUEL M. PETTENGILL, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

i-:NDLEss-CABLE RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 230,808, dated August 3, 1880.

Application tiled January 23, 1880.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL M. PETTEN- GILL, ot` Brooklyn, in the county of' Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Endless-Gable Railways, of' which the followiugis aspecification.

improvements relate to railways provided with a moving endless cable. rope, or chain for propulsion of the cars; and the object of my invention is to furnish the ears with means for seizing and firmly holding to the rope or cable without shock.

The invention is applicable to elevated, surface, and other railways, bridges, mines, or elsewhere; and it consists in a clutch of peculiar construction operated by a lever, having combined with it a device for raising the tractionropeinto the clutch` operated by the same lever. The devices are also fitted so that they will safely pass the sheaves supporting the cables.

The construction and operation will be more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure l is a verticallongitudinal section of a car fitted with my invention and shown in connection with a track. Fig. 2 is an inverted plan view of the car. Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section of the car in the reverse position of Fig. 1. Fig. et is a cross-section on line y y of Fie'. 2.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

The endless rope or chain a is tted to run oversheaves I), which will be placed at suitable distances apart, and the rope driven in any usual or desired manner.

The clutching mechanism is fitted beneath each car A, about midway between the trucks, or wherever it can be placed mosteonveniently, and is constructed and arranged as follows: c c are tubular guides, of anysuitablelengths, sustained side by side and parallel to each other by the pillars d, that are bolted to the car-frame. The inner side of each guide c is slotted to receive the flange e of the slide C, that is fitted between the guides c, so that the slide is thereby sustained and may move in the guides lengthwise of the ear. Within the guides c springs f are fitted at opposite sides of the flanges e, such springs tending to retain the slide in a midway position.

The slide C is preferably made in the form shown in Fig. i-that is, with a recessed under side-and is fitted in such recess with aclutch-lever, g, pi voted to swing in a horizontal direction and formed with aroughened end that is eccentric to the pivot, so that the rope may be clamped between such surface and one side of the recess, and the strain will act to tighten the clutch. [n an aperture of'l slide() a lever, t, is hung to swingin a vertical plane, one end of which lever is connected to clutch g, while the other end passes up through the bottom of the ear, so as to be operated con veniently within the car.

To the bottom of the car, at the rear of slide C, a rod, Ii, is fitted in a. fixed tubular guide, 7a, so as to be capable of vertical movement, and is supported at its upper end by a nut, I., that rests on guide k, whereby the redt' may be adjusted vertically.

The rod 'i is forced downward by a spiral spring contained in the guide It', and is fitted at its lower end withtwo parallel spring-arms, m, that may be opened transversely of the ear, and are fitted at their inner sides with lugs or pins m', which are normally in Contact and serve to sustain the rope a and retain it in line with the clutch-.-

In suitable hearings on the upper side of slide C is fitted a cross-shaft, a, on one end of which is fixed a forked arm, o, that passes at opposite sides of' rod i and engages with pins t" on the rod. The other end of shaft n is fitted with an arm or disk, p, having a pimp', that extends in front of' lever h. The lever lt is fitted for sidewise movement on its f'ulerum, so that as it is moved forward to clutch the rope it may be engaged with the pin p to move the rod il upward, as hereinafter described.

Beneath the car, in front of the slide C, is hung an arm, q, having its lower end bent horizontally to pass above the rope c, and connected by a link, r, with lever h, so that as the arm q is moved the lever 71, moves with it to relieve the rope from the clutch.

The operation is as follows: When the rope is to be clutched for moving the car the lever L is moved forward in engagement with the pill p', thereby simultaneously moving the clutclr lever g, raising the rod i". and springs m, and

IOO

moving the arm q forward. The forked arm o being long, the rod is rapidly raised, and the rope raised into the clutch bef'ore it closes. 'Ihe furthermovement of lever h clamps the rope, when the pin p will be disengaged by a slight side movement of lever h, and rod 'zi will fall downward.

The clutch is automatically released at each sheavebby contact ofthe arm q with the sheave, which forces the said arm and lever 7L backward, and at the same ti me presses rope a downward from the clutch.

The strain in starting the car by clutching the rope, as described, is relieved by the forward movement of the slide C in guides c, which is taken by the springs and the slide gradually stopped nntii the inertia of the car is overcome. rlhe clutching may be done gradually until the full speed is obtained and the mechanism thereby relieved of shock.

The strain of the rope on the clutch tends fro bind the rope more firmly, and to relieve the rope it is only necessary to pull the lever back, and the rope will drop upon the pins m of springs m.

To permit thel car to pass the sheaves b without. the springs m interfering` therewith, the springs m are fitted at the lower end with anges s, that extend forward and Jflare outward, so that when they reach the sheave the flanges s will pass at opposite sides thereof, Open the springs m, and allow the pins mf to leave the rope and pass at each side ofthe sheave without touching. They also pass the sheave of the next section of rope in the same manner, and then close under the rope.

This mechanism is simple and d nrable, and may be applied to cars of usual construction without changes being required.

The inclines s may be applied at both sides of springs m in case the car is to run in both directions. and the lever 0 may be compounded l or fitted with gearing for obtaining more power to raise the rope.

Instead of the rope being clamped between a single moving` clutch and afixed bearing, there may be two swinging clutches operated by the hand-lever and fitted to receive the rope between their ends.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent l. The clutching mechanism consisting of the slide C, sustained in guides c, fitted with springs, the clutch-lever g, lever 7L, and the rod t', fitted to receive the endless cable and for being raised by movement of lever h, all combined with a car, for operation substantially as described and shown. l

2. The combination7 with the clutching devices fitted beneath the car for operation by a lever, of the rod z', itted with springs m, for receiving the rope, and connected with a crankarm thatis operated by movementof the clutching lever, substantially as shown and described.

3. In combination with the lever for operating the clutch and the rod t' that guides the rope, the shaft n, forked lever o, disk or arm p, and pin p', substantially as shown, and for the purposes set forth.

4:. The rod 'i and springs m, for guiding the rope, provided with the pins m and inclined anges s, substantially as shown, and for the purposes set forth.

5. In combination with the clutch g, liftingrod t', and lever h, the swinging arm g, fitted t0 extend over the endless cable and connected by a link with the lever h, substantially as described and shown, and for the purposes set forth.

SAMUEL M. PETTENGILL.

Witnesses GEO. D. VALKER, C. SEDefwrcK. 

